Imagine how LSU’s players were feeling midway through the first half of a mid-January game in Baton Rouge after Kentucky had sprinted to a 41-17 lead.

“This is the worst beating I’ve seen a team take in many, many a year,” said Dick Vitale, stationed courtside for ESPN, 10 minutes in. But it was just getting started: Incredibly, the Wildcats had 86 points by halftime. This was a team that—propelled by its hellacious pressure defense—could score seemingly at will.

It also was a team that was too good for the SEC. Until the final game of the conference tournament—which, also incredibly, UK lost to Mississippi State—the Wildcats were 18-0 vs. league opponents. Yet, because of that defeat, they entered the NCAA Tournament ranked second behind Marcus Camby and UMass.

But the Untouchables, as coach Rick Pitino would nickname them, had too much talent—too much athleticism—to be denied the program’s first national title in 18 years, finishing 34-2. They had four players—Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson and Ron Mercer—who were so versatile Pitino could deploy them any way he wanted. And they had a leader, senior guard Tony Delk, who could bury a big shot more reliably than anyone Pitino had coached since Billy Donovan at Providence. And that includes the New York Knicks.

The Go-to guy

Senior guard Tony Delk

Former Kentucky guard Jeff Sheppard says: “One of the major strengths of the 1996 championship team at UK was our depth. On any given night, one of 11 players could step up and lead the team to a victory. However, Tony Delk was the go-to guy. Throughout the season, Tony was the guy we looked for when we needed a bucket. And, especially, T.D. came up huge in the biggest game of the season, the championship game against Syracuse.”

The rotation

G Tony Delk: 6-1, Sr., 17.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.9 spg

F Antoine Walker: 6-8, Soph., 15.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.7 spg

F Walter McCarty: 6-10, Sr., 11.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.4 bpg

G Derek Anderson: 6-3, Jr.,9.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.7 spg

F Ron Mercer: 6-7, Fresh., 8.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg

C Mark Pope: 6-10, Sr., 7.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg

G Anthony Epps: 6-2, Jr., 6.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.9 apg

G Jeff Sheppard: 6-4, Jr., 5.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg

The defining number

16-0—The Wildcats’ regular-season conference record. The average score: 90.1 to 65.9. It was the only season in Pitino’s eight years in Lexington the Wildcats were so untouchable; it was the only season in which they didn’t sustain multiple league losses. Pitino’s program had won four consecutive SEC Tournament titles before the loss to Mississippi State in 1996, but this team was—by far—the best he’d ever coached.

The legacy

Two years after the 1996 championship, Kentucky won it again—with Tubby Smith in his first year as coach and with Wayne Turner and Sheppard the only rotation players from ’96 still around. But the program clearly was back as a national powerhouse. UK won the SEC tourney in 1997 (and also reached the national championship game but lost to Arizona), which would turn out to be Pitino’s swan song, and again in ’98 and ’99.

The tourney run

First round

(1) Kentucky 110, (16) San Jose State 72

The Spartans gave UK all it wanted—for a half. The second 20 was a 63-31 crush job befitting a 1-vs.-16 matchup.

Second round

(1) Kentucky 84, (9) Virginia Tech 60

This one was decided on the boards, with Antoine Walker’s 11 rebounds leading the way to a 43-27 advantage.

Midwest Region semifinals

(1) Kentucky 101, (4) Utah 70

Consider this a warning to Rick Majerus and the Utes, who’d be knocked out of the tourney by UK the following two years as well.

Midwest Region final

(1) Kentucky 83, (2) Wake Forest 63

Tony Delk went off for 25, but the bigger story was the Wildcats’ holding Tim Duncan to two field goals.

National semifinals

(1) Kentucky 81, (1) Massachusetts 74

Marcus Camby, the player around whom John Calipari had assembled a shockingly good UMass team, was brilliant in the loss, scoring 25 points, grabbing eight boards and blocking six shots. But he was a one-man show against a team with several players who were better than Camby’s best teammate. UK led by eight at the half, withstood a UMass run that cut the lead to three with a little over a minute to play and closed it out pretty easily.

National championship game

(1) Kentucky 76, (4) Syracuse 67

Anthony Epps was scoreless, but his seven assists were huge as the Wildcats moved the ball beautifully throughout. Delk’s seven 3s didn’t hurt.